Tire-building machine



June l0, 1930. P. w. LEI-MAN 17,762,824

TIRE BUILDING MACHINE Filed March l, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet l A TTORNE Y.

.nine 1o, 1930.

` P. w. LEHMA N '1,762,824

TIRE BUILDING MACHINE Filed March 1. 1928 s sheets-'sheet 2 INVENTOR.

PAUL W LEHM.

ATTORNEY. l

June 10,1930. P. w. EHMAN '1,762,824

TIRE BUILDING MACHINE 'Filed March 1,.. 192e :s sheets-sheet 3 I N VENTOR.

PA UL W LEHMN.

ATTORNEY.

Patented June l0, 1930 UITE STATE-is? PATENT 'Frio-E Y PACI. W.y LEHMAN,l or MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, AssIcNoN .To TIIE NISK mienne COMPANY, on CHICCPNETALLS, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or MASSA- CHUSETTS Application med Maren A1,

This deviceV relates to the 'manufacture 'of pneumatic tireca'sing's and more'p'articularly to means for applyingy annular bands' of c arcass material to the building core.l It has for an object .the provision of means for sub'- stantially ,uniformly 'expanding a band of carcass material and accurately positioning it inl stretched condition upon the core substantiallyautomatically. It has Jfor a `further object the provision of a device ofthis character which shall be simple in structure and operation and which may be associated withy Standard tire building machines without involving any substantial change in the l5 mode of operation of the latter. Other and further objects will be apparent from the following specification and claims;v In the accompanying drawings which illustrate .one

y embodiment of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a front elevationshowing'the' device in expanded position with' a band centered on the core, parts beingjbrolren Aaway to better show the construction;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 oi Fi 1H;

Fig. 3 is a View similartohthatof' *ig. y,l but showing the device inl retracted position; Fig. 4 4is adetail view on a 'largerscale showing the operating 'mechanism for -`the expanding fingers; l Y

Fig. 5 isa section on line 5-51'0' Fig. 2, showing 'the suction gripping device for re'- taining the bandv upon'the core as' the lingers are Withdrawn; y

Fig. 6 Shows an alternative form of grip- I ping mechanism; and

Fig. 7 fs a detail'vievv,` partly in Section, showing the actionof the grippers asthje fingers are withdrawn. p y K i Referring to the drawings, rv1 designates a rotatable 'building core driven by any Suitable means enclosed .in the housing l2 Iota Ybuilding machine. The band stretching and applying mechanisms comprise aplurality of `fingers 4 pivoted at 5 to pairs of parallel links F 6, the latter beingadjustable inflength by jmeans of turnfbuckles 3. The links Gare pivoted vat 7 toa bell-shaped support. 8, the latter being lsecured tothe end of a cylinder 9 which is slidably mounted ina second `cyl- '1-59 inder 12. As best shown'in'Fig. 4"the cylin'- Tran-BUILDING MACHINE 192s. serial No. 258,263'.

der l2 is provided onits outer edge'with a lan'ge'l carrying a series of lugsl4 secured to the flang'eby pins 16. l Lugs 14k areconnected by links '17 to one of each pair of yparallel links y6 to' operatefthey latter as lather described. vCylinder `12 Ais slidably mounted 1n a supporting and 'operating' cylinder 2() which isV secured by bolt's'21 (see Figs. lj-and 3) `to asupport 23'p'ivoted at`2`4 to :aibraclret 25 securedto a wall or suitableupright 26. Cylinder 20 is further Supported byga brace 27 secured to the outerend of cylinder 20 by machine yscrews 28, the lower end ofthe brace being pivotally mounted atv 29 to a bracket secured to wall-or upright26; Referring to Fig. 4 again, cylinderl2 is provided with a head 30 slidably mounted on a hollow rod'l, the latter having a stationary he`ad34 secured to its outer end. Cylinder 9 isV providedl with a head also slid'ablymounted on rod 31'and providedy with airports 36. Cylinder 9jis 'provided intermediate its ends with a stopring`37.` Bell 8 carries ay pivot 'latch'3`9 i Y adapted, whenthe parts are inv the Vposition 'shownin Fig; 4, toengagefa lug 40 formed on cylinder'20. One 'of the lugs ,1'4 carried byA cy'flinder 12'is'y provided with 1a projection-41 adapted, uponv the advance'of cylinder 12 *asf ylater described, to `engage a projection' 44 Secured tolatch 39 to release the 'latch from engagement'- lwith theV lug "40. A second projection 43 is associated with 'projectionf41 and is adapted to 'be ireengaged'by aA second vlatch 45l pivotally mount?. ed on `bell Latch 45 is normally held in raised positioniby a 4`pin`46, actuated byazbell cranktripleve'r 47 pivoted ,within the cy1- inder. 9 and positioned tobe engagedby'extension 48 ofrod 31 when vthe parts arein the position shown in 4. 'Y

placed over thefingers '4, as shown in Fig. '3, 'and lagainst ladjustable guides 5l lcarried by certain ofthe ingers 4, fthe mechanism "is f operatedV as will'now bei/described toiexpand the pocket and `positionA -it overflthecore; Throughsitable air connections'49 `anfdj88 and valve 52 compressed air is 'respectively admitted behind vv'cylinder head '30 yandgeX- hausted in front of it to advance cylinder 12 w Y v Y. Y 9oV A; band of `carcassmaterial50 having beenV vzo and through links 17 and 6 to move fingers 4 outwardly to expand the band 5() to a diameter slightly greater than that of core 1. As cylinder 12 advances, projection 41 engages lever 44 to release latch 39 and bring projection 43 beneath latch 45. As cylinder 12 reaches this position head 30 engages head 35 of cylinder 9, carrying bell 8, and in its continued advance carries cylinder 9 and bell 8 with it, moving trip 47 out of engage- Vment with extension 48, permitting pin 46 to drop and latch to engage projection 43 to lock bell 8 to cylinder 12. Cylinders 12 and 9 thereafter advance as a unit carrying the expanded band 50 over the building core asshown in Fig. 1.

With the band in this position the outer edge of the band is engaged by gripping means which will now be described, reference being had particularly to Figs. 2 and 5. A ring 53 carrying forked suction fingers 54, connected to chambers 55 secured to ring 53 by screws 56, is slidably mounted on a flange secured by machine screws 61 to housing 2. Ring 53 carries an annularpipe 58 connected'by ducts 57 to each of the chambers 55, suction being supplied to the pipe 58 through air line 59 controlled by a suitable valve 67. Ring 53 is provided with pins 63 operating in inclined cam slots 62 formed in flange 60. Due to the inclination of slots 62 it is evident that a partial rotation of ring 53 will cause the ring and the parts carried thereby to move from the full line position shown in Fig. 5 to the dotted line position of that figure. Such partial rotation of ring 53 is effected b v an air cylinder 64 the piston rod, 65 of which is connected by link 66 to thevring 53, cylinder 64 being operated from air connections 68 and 69 controlled by a suitable valve 70. Vhen the expanded band 50 has been moved into position over the core, as previously described and shown in Figs. 1 and 2, cylinder 64 is operated to move the ring 53 and suction ngers 54 from the dotted line position of Fig. 5 to the full line position of that figure. Suction is then applied to the fingers 54 by valve 67 causing the ngers 54 to grip the band 50 at each side of the fingers 4, as best shown in Fig. 2. Mechanical gripping means may be substituted for the suction fingers 54 such as is shown in Fig. 6 where suction fingers 54 have been replaced by fingers 72Vfsecured to a cylinder head 73 operating in cylinders 74 which may be in all respects similar to cylinders 55 but adapted to receive compressed air from the ring 76 to which the cylinder isl connected by duct 75. Admisl sion of compressed air to cylinder 74 causes 60 finger 72 to move outwardly'to engage the underside ofband 50 and force it against fixed abutments 77 carried by the ring 53 to grip the band of carcass material. Whatever type ofgripper is used it will be evident that upon the retraction of the fingers 4 the band of carcass material 50 will be left in predetermined position on the core (see Fig. 7).

The withdrawal of fingers 4 and their retraction is accomplished as follows, see Figs. 1, 3 and 4. Through valve 52 and pipe 49 air is exhausted behind cylinder head 30 and admitted, through hollow rod 31, port 31 and ports 36, in front of head 30 to retract cylinder 9 and the bell 8 and parts carried thereby. Due to the fact that latch 45 is in engagement with projection 43 cylinders 9 and 12 move back as a unit until trip lever 47 engages projection 48 to raise latch 45 and free cylinder 12; at the same time stop ring 37 engages head 34 of rod 31. The movement of cylinder 9 is thus halted while cylinder 12 is further retracted, link 17 now operating to swing links 6 about their pivot to collapse the lingers 4. As cylinder 12 reaches its inward limit of motion latch 39 rides into engagement with lug 40 locking the lparts in their position shown in Fig. 4. Cylinder 20 which has been held in alignment with the core by means of spring latch 80 may upon release of the latter be swung about its pivot 24 to permit access to the core 1 for further building operations.

As will be obvious turn buckles 3 may be adjusted to accommodate various diameters of cores and the adjustment of guides 51 controls the positioning of the band with relation to the core.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising a plurality of substantially parallel band supporting fingers arranged in an annular formation and means to move said fingers radially and in parallel relation to increase the diameter of the annular formation.

2. A device of the character described comprising a plurality of substantially parallel band supporting fingers arranged in an annular formation, means to vary the normal diameter of the annular formation and means to expand said fingers radially' and in parallel relation to increase the diameter of the annular formation. l

3. A device of the character described comprising a support, a plurality of band supporting fingers arranged around the support in an annular formation, each finger being pivotally connected to said support by a pair of parallel links and means toV swing said links about their pivots to expand and contract the annular format-ion of the fingers.

4. A device of the character described comprising a support, a plurality of band suppivotsto expand and contract the annular formation of the fingers. V

5. A device of the character described comprising a plurality of fingers adapted to support a band of carcass material and arranged in an annular formation, means to expand said supports'radially and in parallel relation to increase the diameter ofthe 'annular formation and stretch the band of carcass material supported thereon, means to telescope the expanded supports and band over a tire building core Vand means to vretain the band in predetermined positionron the core upon Withdrawal of the supports.

6. A device of the character described coml prising a support adapted to be moved intol and out of alignment with the axis of a tire building core, a plurality of band supporting fingers'arranged around vthe support in an annular formation, each finger being pivotally connected to the support by a pair of parallel links, means to swing said links about their pivots to expand said fingers so as to increase the diameter of the annular formation and stretch the band supported thereon, means to telescope the expanded fingers and band over a tire building core and means positioned on the .opposite side of the` building core to grip the outer edge of the band and retain it in predetermined position on the core upon Withdrawal of the fingers.

7 A device for stretching a band of carcass material and positioning it on a tire building core comprising a plurality of band support- `ing members normally positioned to form an annulus of less diameter than the crown diameter of the core, meansto move the supporting members in parallelvrelation to increase the diameter of the annulus to greater than core diameter and to stretch theband of'carcass material positioned thereon, means to telescope the so supported and expanded band l over the core and mea-ns to retain the band; upon the core upon Withdrawal of the sup-V Ports `PAUL W. LEHMAN; Y 

